A couple of weeks ago I went on the best little retreat out of the city with Garnier. We went to the gorgeous Langdon Hall in Cambridge for the #skinactiveretreat where we learned all about customizing our skin care regimens for our individual needs and ate the yummiest food while we were there too ;) After arriving at the stunning venue, we met with Dr. Noah from Garnier who had flown in from New York to meet with us individually and go over all of the concerns we had with our skin.
My skin is always dry, dull, and sensitive so I was happy to see how specific you could get with the Garnier skin line. After choosing all the right products for my needs I went back to my room and had a pretty fabulous facial by Wright Spa. They applied the Deeply Hydrating and Brightening Tissue Mask, which feels so great to just lie there and relax with it on while it does it’s work, and then exfoliated with the Impurities Eliminating Scrub and moisturized with the Ultra-Lift Miracle Sleeping Cream. My skin was glowing afterwards. I have super sensitive skin however so the exfoliator which is actually meant for oily skin feels a little rough on mine. Problem is, I’m obsessed with the results which leave your skin feeling SO soft. So, what I’ve been doing is using the Gentle Clarifying Cleanser Gel daily and then I keep the exfoliator in the shower next to my hair toner which I only use once weekly -this way I get to remove all those icky impurities with the charcoal exfoliator once in a while, but don’t further dry out my overly sensitive skin making it red trying to use it everyday.
The food at Langdon Hall was so ridiculously good. They grow a lot of their vegetables, herbs, and flowers to garnish, right on the grounds and we hiked around taking pictures of the pretty blooms and tasting what they were growing. The picture of the field of pretty white and yellow flowers are Chamomile! Who knew they were so lovely? We also did some early morning yoga using my favourite mats from B Yoga and then lounged by the pool all morning. Being an 80s baby I am of the generation that loves to lie out in the sun. I remember only using sun screen to paint pictures of hearts or write our names in it on our bodies and then lying out with it on, to let the sun give us sunscreen tattoos around the cream. The horror! Thinking about it now makes me want to slather even more sun screen on me head to toe to make up for it. I’ve been using the Garnier Ombrelle lines for the past two weeks and my skin loves them. For a day out in the sun I use the 45SPF Sport all over my body which protects against harmful UVA and UVB rays, and then I use the incredible 60SPF Ultra Light Face Cream on my face. It is so light and not greasy at all so my skin reacts to it like a light moisturizer and doesn’t break out from it.
It was sad leaving the retreat since it was such a fun group of girls and the best venue for a pampering weekend away. Luckily I came home with an amazing haul of Garnier products to try and I quickly found my favourites to share with you. I wear minimal makeup everyday – usually just under eye concealer to hide my bags and some highlighter on the cheeks and brow bone – so flawless skin is that much more important to my look. Everything I’ve mentioned above has made my skin that much more healthy lately and given my dry, dull skin a glow. People have been telling me recently that I’ve got that pregnancy glow but I say my skin is just finally hydrated. Each morning I start with the Clearly Brighter Brightening and Smoothing Daily Moisturizer which is SPF 15. For my everyday makeup look I’ve fallen in love with the BB Cream and Blur which is moisturizing and gives the perfect all over coverage for people like me who don’t like to smother my face in foundation. Definitely try it! I also use the Skin Renew Anti-Puff Eye Roller underneath the concealer I dab on under the eyes.
Ok, I could go on and on because I love beauty products and the Garnier lines are great but it’s 11am on a Sunday morning and I’m still cozied up in bed writing this. Time to get out into the sunshine! Just two more that definitely need mentioning: the Micellar Cleansing Water needs to live on your bedside table for easy makeup removal and face cleansing at night when you just want to be in bed already, and the Whole Blends Coconut Oil and Cocoa Butter are the best smelling hair products ever. They make me happy and they’ll probably make you happy too. Ok, off to the market for flowers and food – two of my favourite things. Happy Weekend lovelies!
WEARING
Bellecour Dress – Aritzia
Floral Heels – Le Chateau
My gorgeous new bedroom set (currently on sale!):
Barani Queen Bed: Artemano
Barani Night Tables: Artemano
